This invention pertains to a tube-squaring tool and a clamping mechanism usable therewith.
Prior to welding adjacent tube sections together in end-to-end relation, it is important to remove burrs and rough edges from the tube end and also to have a very square tube end when the welding is done by an automatic butt welder which provides a fusion weld.
Portable tools for finishing the ends of metal tubes are known in the art.
The Strout Pat. No. 3,228,268 shows a portable tube end cutting tool for preparing the end of a metal pipe or tube preparatory to welding. This patent has a hand crank operable to achieve advance of a rotating cutting tool relative to the end of a metal tube and a collet for holding the metal tube in position during cutting.
The Beauloye Pat. No. 3,875,831 discloses a pipe facing and deburring power head with a complex automatic structure for advancing a cutting tool toward a workpiece and a plurality of clamping screws for holding the workpiece in position.
The Saine Pat. No. 4,319,503 shows a tube facing tool with a collet structure for holding a workpiece in position and a rotatable cam structure for causing movement of a sleeve which results in movement of a rotating cutting tool relative to the workpiece.
The prior art referred to above does not show a tube-squaring tool having clamping mechanism operable simply and quickly by a relatively few degrees of rotation of a handle nor a structure wherein a drive motor is mounted intermediate the ends of the body of the tool to provide a compact tool and an optional handle facilitating handling of the tube-squaring tool and wherein the advance of the cutting tool relative to the workpiece is achieved by operation of a member pivotally mounted at an end of the tool body.